Revelaciones Españolas
by citizensyndrome
Summary: AU: Matthew is a reserved college student who manages to cross paths with the amiable Dominic and his friends. When a compulsory trip to Platja d'Aro (Spain) arises, the group must deal with the reoccurring problems between Matthew and Savannah. But will any good come from all of this?


**Prologue: One More Troubled Soul**

**Title:** Revelaciones Españolas (Spanish Revelations)  
**Author:** citizensyndrome (me)  
**Pairing:** Belldom  
**Rating:** PG/T (for language and slight violence)  
**Chapter Summary:** Matthew's persona is plagued by events that happened years ago and has forced him in a state of social exile. But when a friendly blonde approaches the him, will he have finally found someone who isn't ashamed of him, cares for him and more?...  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing (e.g. characters, their lives and anything associated with them) but I do own the plot and the OC's e.g. Savannah.  
**A/N:** This is my first published fanfic so feedback would be lovely, but I don't care, a simple dot to let me know you read it would be awesome. Cheers!

For the first time in an almost decade, the ebony haired boy was confronted properly by somebody other than his conscience. Well… apart from the remnants of his family.

"Hello, Matthew. That is your name right?"

_I don't recognize that voice; am I being stupid or do I know him?_

He had been staring at the floor and daren't look up now, he may end up glaring at the stranger for no apparent reason, just because of habit. Regardless of the fact that the stranger sounded nice enough. A breath was taken to calm his nerves and a mental pray was made, begging that he did have some social skills left after all those years.

"Hmm, yeah. What is it that you want?"

Surprising, yet relieving himself, the inquisition was polite. Usually, the only words he said hear were laced with hatred and rage in effort to cause some kind of effect on those who were deteriorating his already low self-esteem.

The boy chuckled lightly before elucidating, "I just wanted to introduce myself, seeing as we are in a few of the same classes: I'm Dominic."

_Dominic... Oh yeah! He's in my art and geography classes. Dirty blonde hair and very um, distinctive fashion sense, you can spot him from a mile away._

Matthew pushed away his thoughts and looked up at Dominic. A genuine smile greeted his vision, and what an expression it was. Wow… But they all disguise themselves to start with, his brain reminded him.

Regardless of his bogus thoughts, Matthew responded with a simple, shaky, "Hello," in as cheery voice as he could muster.

Silence settled over the pair for a moment, as they both tried to figure out what to say next. But this noiseless environment led them to realise how idiosyncratic the situation appeared. Many pairs of eyes were aimed at the two creating an uneasy atmosphere between them. But before Matthew could excuse himself, Dominic spoke.

"Um... I kinda lied," he confessed, biting his lip whilst breaking eye contact with the raven-haired boy. "Well I didn't because I really did want to introduce myself but I was actually going to ask you something else."

_Oh great. The two seconds of courteous behaviour had already ended._

Ideas of what Dominic's next words were danced through his mind; as well as any comebacks that could be utilized accompanying them.

"Uh, do you want to sit with my two friends and myself?" What?...

Saying that Dominic felt anxious would be an understatement. He was internally trembling because of this boy. At first glance he appeared cold and distant, but talking to him for mere seconds had completely revealed the comprehensive antithesis. It had been risky even thinking of conversing with him, based on the stories he had heard, but he felt strangely attracted to Matthew. Just drawn to him. When Dominic had finally asked him what he had been meaning to, he glanced up to see the short burst of confusion written on Matthew's face, before he composed herself. Patiently, he anticipated the answer.

"Umm… Okay?" The hesitant voice didn't faze him. He grinned before gesturing the small boy to follow him to a picnic table in the center of the courtyard. Matthew's forehead creased, worried in thought.

_Oh damn it… I'm trying to be friendly not hurt him! Yeah, but remember what Chris said… _

In effort to calm the agonized boy, he encouraged softly, "It's okay. Just ignore the other people around us. It's just Chris and Kelly. You share classes with them too, they've told me. So there is nothing to be troubled about." It didn't work. Matthew still looked on uneasily. Without any other alternative (which Dominic could think of on the spur of the moment), he leant in close to one of the boys ears.

"Look, Matthew, I am aware of your past but that doesn't change anything. I don't know you yet I feel inclined to. So please, let me talk to you, just this once. If you completely hate me by the end of lunch, you can punch me. If not… well we can see where it goes. Is that okay?" This seemed to have a better affect because he became lost in thought, staring at the sky, before nodding. Inside, Dominic celebrated but his more controlled outside persona just smiled warmly again and led him to his table where his friends were chatting.

The familiar brunettes were seated on one side of the bench; the female's waist enclosed in one of the male's arms, tensing every so often to create a gentle squeezing effect. Dominic shook his head as they neared the couple, his grin turning into a soft smile.

_They just won't stop will they?_

Some of the time Dominic was the third wheel in their friendship, left out or ignored, but truly, it didn't matter. All he wanted was for them to be happy, as cheesy as it sounded.

"Chris, Kelly, this is Matthew," he said, snapping the couples attention to those who had entered their 'area'.

Chris offered his free hand to him which to Dominic's relief, was shaken, "Nice to meet you Mattew. I'm Chris and this is Kelly." Upon the arrival, Kelly had buried her face into Chris's neck in a sense of hiding herself and with no intention of leaving. "Oi, that's rude y'know!" Chris muttered poking Kelly in the ribs; a muffle giggle piercing the air. Rolling his eyes, Chris raised his voice to assure Matthew "Don't mind her. She's just very shy."

He recognized the pair quite quickly as soon as he saw them. Kelly was in her physics and maths classes. From the beginning of term she had been renowned for being tremendously intelligent. Her intellectual abilities put the majority of the classes to shame; well, with the exception of Matthew, of course. At some points in the lesson, a pupil would ask the professor a question which started at everyone's level of understanding but as it would flow, more and more people couldn't catch on, which would be when the professor would laugh and request they (Matt and/or Kelly as they were the only two ever left at this point) continue another time.

Chris on the other hand was immensely creative and athletic. He and Matthew shared drama. During this lesson he had the ability to create intricate scripts that could tell the stories of deepest woe or greatest joy. However strangely never performed. He would allow others to do what they wished with the script and preferred to help them rehearse.

_I guess you could say he was some kind of aspiring director._

Matthew had always found his work ingenious but had never had the courage, instead applauding loudly from the corners of the room, to discreetly show his appreciation. As for the sports he did: wow. Stories of how Cirencester College's star sportsman had scored yet another goal, won another medal, topped another league were frequent. His achievements in pretty much every sport that was available to him were endless.

Yet, none of the heaps of praise he received ever went to his head. Incredibly he was a gentleman, no wonder he was head over heels for Kelly. However, Matthew probably wouldn't have guessed they were in a relationship together, I guess opposites really do attract.

_Aw... But they're so cute!_

Ignoring the urge to bombard them with queries, Matthew perched on the edge of the wooden bench next to Dominic, feeling more secure the nearer he was to blonde. Unsure of what to do, he offered the two a small smile.

"So… Matthew, what do you like?" This came from Chris, at of course to him, a surprise.

_What the hell should I say? Oh God! They've offered me a chance to redeem myself, prove those bastards wrong, but I'm gonna screw this up so bad. _

"That's quite a general question," he stalled, in attempt to get an idea of what she could respond with Dominic was quick to interject before Chris could speak,

"Anything: book, movie, type of music, game… whatever."

Matthew frowned for a moment. He had the answers to those questions but did he really want to expose details, however insignificant they may seem, to people who were practically strangers?

**_They could even use it against you_**, a voice reminded him. _Shut up! I can tell they mean well._

This thought gave him the confidence to converse properly with the three friends.

"Well, now that you've mentioned it: my favourite book is probably 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' by George Orwell, favourite movie is… uh…'World War Z', and I mainly like classical music but punk and rock pretty cool and favourite game. Something to so with puzzles 'cause it's all really interesting to play y'know?... " His mouth moved uncontrollably, babbling, getting it over and done with.

The three's expressions, which were instantaneous, caused him to blush slightly.

"Oh my god!" Kelly squealed, surfacing from Chris' shoulder. "Here we go," her boyfriend groaned, pretending to shoot himself in the head with a gun-shaped hand gesture.

"What?" Had he done something wrong?

But he was immediately reassured everything was fine by Dominic's laugh and explanation, "It's just young Kelly over here seems to have a lot of the same interests as you, which she adores to talk about." Kelly gave him the finger but a smile played at her lips, she knew what Dominic said was true. Dominic blew a kiss to Kelly before turning to Matthew and added, "Now that she's found you, she won't shut up, ever. So, good luck with that," with a wink.

**-45 minutes later-**

Dominic seemed to be the first of the four to acknowledge that a lengthy period of time had passed. From habit, he automatically riffled through his pocket until he felt a cool metal case. Pulling out his phone, he unlocked it to reveal the time: 1.57, 3 minutes till the next set of classes began.

"Shit, we're going to be late."

"Psh, no we're not," pause, "Oh yeah we are. Heh, I knew that…" Kelly trailed off, becoming lost in his thoughts when he caught Chris's mischievous stare. The smaller brunet's mouth opened as if to tell Chris to _'piss off' _or something similar, but Dominic interrupted him, understanding where this would lead.

"Yes we're gonna be late. So instead of starting an _'argument'_, let's get going."

He stepped over and out of the bench just to here Kelly's dramatic sighs. Usually he would have said something but today, he just wasn't in the mood.

Instead he turned around to Matthew and asked, "Don't we have some kind of geography lecture, now?"

He nodded looping his bag over his shoulder. "Should be fun," the raven-haired boy commented sarcastically, a roll of his eyes to emphasize the point.

"Y'know, if we sit at the back, they won't take much notice of what we do," Dominic pointed out, "Once Chris, Kelly and I had a music lecture in the hall, the topic was quite boring so we all sat at the back. Kelly and Chris had a make-out session whilst I was on my phone. Nobody in the room noticed!"

Matthew let out a small laugh as we began moving, calling our goodbyes to the couple. "But doesn't everyone want to sit at the back? For that reason of course." His impossibly long fingers ran through his hair, distracting Dominic for a moment.

_Wow, I wonder why he dyed his hair black? There's no way that's his original hair colour. It's way too dark. Oh God, why am I even thinking about this?_

He smiled softly, "That's why we gotta get a move on. Race you!"

And with that said, Dominic dashed off, a clearly confused Matthew trailing him.

A faint tumult could be heard from those had had just left behind alongside a sarcastic shout of "Well bye then!"

The pair travelled through other nearly late students and received many curious looks. But these were disregarded. He was a 17 year old who was wanted some fun, however tiring this fun maybe. This fun, however, seemed quite hard for the boy he was enjoying his fun with. Matthew had a quite evident dislike for any sports so his fitness were unsurprisingly low. Dominic soon lost sight of him as he neared the lecture hall, his occasional glances back revealed nothing. So he turned around, expecting to find him just around the corner.

Matthew was chasing his new acquaintance, or was it, dare he say, friend? But he was way too fast for him. Puny legs and a heavy shoulder bag didn't help to improve his lack of stamina either.

Once he knew he was away from most of the crowds, he rested against the outside of the English block, catching his breath. He focused on breathing deeply for several moments. In and out. In and out. In and out… But a cough interrupted him.

Matthew turned his head slightly to the left to be rewarded with the sight of snobby girls and their bodyguards(?) coated in layers of make-up and most probably made out of plastic.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here, then?" a high-pitched voice mused, smirking.

This caused a few laughs, more like cackled, from her flock of sheep, her being Savannah Parks. The cliché popular long (bleached) blonde hair, big (fake) boobs and an unhealthy looking orange (sprayed) tan. If anything, she should be swinging on poles in Vegas, not attempting to complete a college A level in the middle of the English countryside. No, no, no! Not now! I was having a brilliant day, why does she have to do this now?

"Savannah," Matthew said in acknowledgement, staring at the floor.

The girl in question reached out and roughly pulled his chin up; a sadistic smile crossed Savannah's face at Matthew's wince of pain.

"It's rude to not look at the person you're speaking to," she reminded him, _oh that is so rich coming from her. _

"How would you know that? I don't remember you having any form of manners at all," He snipped, his voice laced with venom as he ripped the hand still enclosed around his face away from him.

Savannah just smiled and wiped her hand on her skirt, "Aren't we a little sassy today? Is it due to your new friends?"

Becoming more and more frustrated by Savannah's presence, he huffed loudly and shot back, "What that got to do with you?"

"Oh nothing really," Savannah mused, "I just wonder how the hell a pathetic little boy could get anyone to talk to you. But then again, it's just the geek and the freak. They most likely don't care about you spreading your fucking homo disease aro-"

"That is just fucking horrible. I thought you hated me, leave Chris and Kelly out of this you judgemental bitch," Matthew fumed, his fist clenching. He couldn't believe someone would have some kind of grudge against pair who have larger hearts than all the people present, _cold-hearted bitches_.

Savannah just laughed mechanically whilst snapping her fingers (a signal of some sort) before taunting, "Ooh, have I touched a nerve there?"

A part of Savannah's _protection_ stepped out from behind his leader and laughed "You really are stupid, aren't you?" then proceeded to forcibly push Matthew on to the cobbled floor, landing awkwardly on his arm.

Cradling the injured limb, he shrunk away from the group and desperately tried to not to let his tears flow.

"Hey Matthew, are you around here?"

_Oh Dominic! Please help me!_

"Get up!" Savannah hissed pulling on his head hard. Consequently, making her to stumble up onto wobbly knees. "Hello Dominic, fancy seeing you. Matthew's just over here," she answered cheerfully, stepping out the way so Dominic could see the boy in question.

"Are you alright, Matthew?"

Dominic had been relieved to find him but as soon as Savannah came into view, he had become suspicious. A look at Mathew had caused his stomach to flip, he was standing awkwardly whilst fear and hurt plagued his eyes.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," he assured unconvincingly.

A sceptical look was shot his way, courtesy of the other male present but it was ignored. "Okay then," Dominic said cautiously, in effort not to provoke the other girls to say/do something uncalled for, "Let's go, Matthew."

The boy ducked quickly through the crowd, yet not fluidly; a slight limp caused the growing concern to double.

_Right, we're getting away from here, now! _

Believing physical contact wasn't the best idea at the moment, Dominic used his eyes as a signal for "_Move_." Thankfully, he understood.

They turned away with a goodbye of: "See ya around, Dominic, Matthew," from the group's leader. A chorus of giggles faded away as they silently made their way, back en route.

Dominic was afraid to say anything that could damage their already fragile relationship.

_Relationship? What are you on about, man?_

But he couldn't help the glances he took at him, checking for any sign of emotional or physical pain that he could pick up on. Matthew didn't seem to realise what he was doing and continued to walk, stone-faced, minus the earlier limp. They arrived five minutes late, according to Dominic's phone; _the lecturer would be well pissed off… Maybe we should just ditch, then I could-_

"Stop, Matthew," he blurted, shooting my arm out.

A hiss sounded from beside him.

"Shit, Matthew I'm so sorry, I didn't think." He received no remark on the subject, instead Matthew eyes widened, a deer caught in the headlights manifested in his vision.

"W-what are you doing?"

"We're not going in, not with you like that." He internally winced at the far too edgy tone, this was meant to put the boy at ease not perturb him even further.

"But I'm fine," Matthew protested, eyes flickering to the hall. _Is he thinking of running? _

Dominic saw this and immediately warned, "Don't even think about it, you're not missing anything and I won't let you make a fool of yourself." He knew Matthew could sense the determination radiating of the other boy telling him there was no way he was going to win this. With a sigh of defeat, he slid down to the floor, feeling lethargic.

The same odd emotions flooded through Dominic, almost forcing him to kneel next to the other boy, anxiously gazing at him. "Matthew, are you okay? Don't lie to me, I know that there's something wrong. Did they hurt you?" With tight lips, the person in question blankly stared at the gravel beneath their bodies. "Matthew, we're not leaving until tell me what I can do to help you." Once again, he was silent. Dominic sighed in frustration; this is going to be a long afternoon.

It took Dominic almost half an hour to get the truth out of the contumacious inky-headed lad; much to Matthew's annoyance and his pleasure; in the end. His silent pride radiated in strong pulses, driving Matthew to the edge.

_Why you won't just leave me alone?_ he screamed.

Of course, not out loud. His brain and mouth must have had some kind of dispute where the latter spurned to obey the brains wishes. Or maybe it was just the pain. Probably the pain. Whimpers, apologies and words of gratitude were all that mumbled out it once the bomb had been dropped. 4

Yes, his stomach was aching, yes his knees were sore, and yes, his arm felt like it was vigorously abscessed. But Dominic don't put ice on it, don't use anti-septic (it really doesn't need it) and no, he doesn't need a make-shift sling for it. He's fine.

Indubitably, the blonde carried on with his on merry way, whipping out medical supplies like nobody's business. Fixing Matthew's physical injuries, the mental ones stayed locked up, to his relief.

"You should be alright, for the moment anyway," Dominic assured, repacking his back pack. He was smiling. Why? You just wasted the last hour on me, where's the reason to be happy.

"Thank you."

"No problem." Pause… The world now a daunting noiseless environment. Matthew went to turn away, however the "Wait!" stopped him, _what is going on now?_

" What?"

"I was wondering, does this happen a lot?" the blonde questioned uneasily. He was fidgeting, and biting his lower lip, a nervous habit no doubt.

_Oh um wow? _

Taking a deep breathe, Matthew believed he deserved an answer and so gave him one, "Uh-h yeah. Well, usually it just verb, the odd '_you're a skinny f-fucking homo'_," he didn't notice the others sharp intake of breath, instead carried on maundering, "occasionally she'd get someone to do her _'dirty work'_ y-you could say. If I'm lucky it doesn't even really hurt unless you get that big kid that was there today. It would have been much worse if you hadn't intervened. Would have lasted until the end of period. Then they would have finished it somewhere else, out of site. I think one time they broke a r-rib..."

_It'd hurt, hurt so much._

_And I couldn't do anything._

_I was weak._

_I was useless._

_**You still are**_, the words from the dark corners of his mind resonated.

_**Pathetic, pointless.**_

_**You're just Dominic's charity case. **_

_**Who'd want to be around you?**_

Growing in strength, Matthew believed this to be as truth until he let it seep through into reality. His eyes glazed over, and a lone tear flowed down his cheek, with more threatening to burst. Not now, he thought desperately, swiping his sleeve over his face, none too discretely.

"Oh, Matt." The voice sounded so broken, yet so heartfelt.

_'Matt', he called me Matt._

It was what pushed him over the edge. As he broke, two arms snaked around his waist easing him into a vital embrace, his face delving into Dominic's shoulder.

"Hey, Matt, it's okay now. They won't hurt you anymore, you've got Chris, Kelly and I now," Dominic consolidated. His hands drew circles, something for the other boy to focus on, to take his mind off the recent events. But the way the blonde acted showed Matthew, for the first time in a couple of years, that it's okay. Being some kind of stone-like creature isn't going to solve anything. He didn't really recall much of how he had acted before he…

_No, I'm not going to think about it. Not now._

Subconsciously, Matthew lifted his lifeless arms to cling onto the body, ignoring the logic which shrieked at him not to. This was welcomed, greatly by more words of encouragement. Post haste he became increasingly more tranquil, a sense of trust beginning to explode between the two. His erratic tears turned into soft sniffles, eventually ceasing to exist. Matthew managed to find his voice to talk to Dominic.

"M'sorry, I'm a fucking mess," his muffled voice said, as he sniffed last time, calming himself. He felt the limbs around him tighten once before releasing him.

"It's okay, one day you'll pay me back, could be tomorrow, could be in 10 years' time, I'll get my favour out of you, yet."

Matthew's emotions reiteratively changed drastically, however this time, for the better "Wait, wait, wait. In a few hours of knowing you, you've made me skive class," he pointed out sternly, but the tips of his mouth were up turned, calling bluff on the façade, "Something I haven't done since early secondary school. I think that you're a bad influence. What makes you think I'm gonna stick around?"

Dominic raised an eyebrow, clearly conveying his thoughts that challenged Matthews. "Because I'm a unique individual," he assured. The raven-haired boy weakly laughed at this wanting to inject, but Dominic continued to talk, "anyway, I'm sure you have physics now. Want me to 'escort' you there?"

The emphasis made the sentence sound reasonably sarcastic, but Matthew seemed to understand the seriousness behind the word. Still hold the breath-taking smile (which was unknown to him), he agreed.

"Sure."


End file.
